1953} RlTZEiXTHALER, CHIPPEWA HEALTH 177 



emphasis on hunting and fishing, entered the state from Canada via upper 

 Michigan, around the middle of the Seventeenth Century. They were con- 

 centrated on this reservation as a result of the treaty of 185-t, and settled at 

 various times in atomistic communities which today exist as Reserve, New 

 Post, Barbertown, Bisonetteville, Chief Lake, and Round Lake. Their 

 traditional economy has survi^ed to a considerable degree with hunting, 

 fishing, and the gathering of such wild foods as berries, rice, and maple- 

 sugar still carried on. Supplementing this diet are foods purchased at "white" 

 grocer)- stores. The cash income is obtained primarily by seasonal occupa- 

 tions such as guiding, lumbering, and the harvesting of cranberries, peas, 

 and beans for the nearby farmers. Such income, however, is meager, and 

 the economic problem of the Chippewa, as among all American Indians, is 

 a major one. 



The ordinary dress of the people is that of the white man except for a 

 few of the older folks who prefer moccasins to shoes. Indian dress is seen 

 only at the summer dances for the tourist, and here the Woodland costume 

 has become intermingled with such Plains items as the war bonnet, vests, 

 bustles, and Dakota moccasins. Houses are either small log cabins, or small 

 frame structures with the elm or birch-bark wigwam employed only as a 

 storage hut, or occasionally used as dwellings in the wild rice camps. 



The old social system has largely collapsed and, although most people 

 know to what clan they belong, the clan system is functionless except in a 

 few minor instances. 



Catholicism has made substantial inroads into the religious lite of the 

 people, but there is an active so-called pagan" group carrying on the old 

 religious beliefs and ceremonies. 



The nearly three centuries of contact with the whites has resulted in a 

 steady loss of the Indian culture, and. at the present time, a rough estimation 

 of the acculturational proportions would be eighty percent white and twenty 

 percent Indian. This, however, is not a well-kneaded mixture, but is closely 

 associated with age groups. Thus the children have little knowledge or 

 interest in the old Indian culture, and in most cases speak only English. The 

 middle-age group essentially follow the white ways, but with Indian infil- 

 trations, and are frequently bilingual. The old folks cling more to the old 

 ways, and in many cases speak only Chippewa. 



